Twins fans have another reason to get excited about the 2013 MLB All-Star game this year. Both catcher Joe Mauer and relief pitcher Glen Perkins were selected to play in the July 16th game at Citi Field in New York. While this will be Perkins’ first appearance in the MLB All-Star games, Mauer has been chosen six times in his career, this being his fourth start for the American League.
Minnesota Twins fans haven’t seen multiple Twins represent Minnesota at the All-Star game since Justin Morneau was selected to start as the first-basemen in 2010. This year will be the first time that two Minnesota natives have represented Minnesota together.
Perkins was selected as an injury replacement for former Twins reliever Jesse Crain, who now plays for the Chicago White Sox, but any Twins fan knows how much he deserves to be there.
Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins celebrate a win
Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Although Perkins has never been selected for past games, his standing this year more than earns him the spot, missing just two of his 22 save opportunities this season.”The bottom line is he’s dominated,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You can look at all the numbers, and the numbers say this guy is an all-star this year.”
Mauer certainly has not fallen short of all-star status this season either. Besides being our very home-grown hometown hero, Mauer has thrown out more attempted base stealers this season than in his last six seasons, at a rate of 41.7 percent. Gardenhire calls Mauer the “best catcher in baseball,” and says he deserves the start in the All-Star game this year, calling him “the whole package.”
“It’s an awesome deal, obviously, to bring a teammate with you in Glen,” said Mauer of Perkins being selected. “We go back a long ways. That makes it really special.”
Perkins stated, “More than anything I’m excited to go there with Joe. We’ve known each other for a long time. This is another chapter. This is pretty neat. I’m excited to go and experience it. I’ll tag along with him.”